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James Wallis (games designer)

March 04, 2023

James Wallis is a British designer and publisher of tabletop and role-playing games.

He is not to be confused with Myriador's Jamie Wallis, who converted Steve Jackson's Sorcery! into d20 modules.

Career

James Wallis began roleplaying in 1981 through Dungeons & Dragons and Traveller, which were both licensed in the UK by Games Workshop at the time.[1]: 304  Wallis began publishing his own fanzines, first WEREMAN and then Sound & Fury, and got to know game designer Erick Wujcik through the latter; Wujcik introduced Wallis to Kevin Siembieda at Gen Con 22 in 1989, resulting in Wallis writing two books for Palladium Books, Mutants in Avalon (1990) and Mutants in Orbit (1992).[1]: 304  Wallis also began working on his own role-playing game based on the Bugtown comics, and in 1992 he brought the game to Phage Press, where it stalled for two years due to creative differences.[1]: 304  Once Upon a Time, a game designed by James Wallis, Andrew Rilstone and Richard Lambert, was published by Atlas Games in 1993, where James met Jonathan Tweet, who soon became head of RPGs at Wizards of the Coast; Wallis brought his Bugtown game to Wizards, but he found no success there either as cartoonist Matt Howarth was unable to come to an agreement with Wizards of the Coast regarding royalties.[1]: 304  He co-founded the RPG magazine Inter*action with Andrew Rilstone, the first issue of which was published in Summer 1994.[1]: 304 

In October 1994, Wallis founded Hogshead Publishing,[1]: 305  a company which specialised in role-playing and storytelling games.[2] Wallis based the company in the UK, and got a license from Phil Gallagher at Games Workshop to publish books for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.[1]: 305  Wallis and Rilstone changed the name of Inter*action to Interactive Fantasy due to trademark concerns beginning with its second issue, which was also Hogshead's first publication; the magazine only lasted two more issues after that.[1]: 305  Warhammer sold well, but Hogshead had problems with their distributor, and Wallis had to let go of all the company's staff.[1]: 305  Matt Howarth eventually pulled Wallis' license for Bugtown, and the game was never published.[1]: 305  By 1996, Wallis was also working in the computer industry and shortly after moved into magazine publishing, working on Warhammer in his spare bedroom on evenings and weekends.[1]: 306  By the end of 1997, cashflow had improved so Wallis moved the company to an office, and hired Matthew Pook.[1]: 306  Wallis was able to publish his game The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen in 1998.[1]: 306  He helped the principals of ProFantasy Software resurrect the Dragonmeet convention in 2000.[1]: 383 

On 26 November 2002, Wallis announced that he was ending Hogshead Publishing, and Mark Ricketts bought the company name in February 2003.[1]: 307  Wallis started the company Magnum Opus Press in 2007 by getting a licensing for the RPG Dragon Warriors; Magnum Opus published a new 1.1 edition of the game with supplements starting in 2008 before problems with the licensor ended it on 1 April 2011.[1]: 307  Wallis put out other books through Magnum Opus, including the debut novel Game Night (2007) by Jonny Nexus, and a new edition of his own The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen (2008).[1]: 307 

Wallis is a narrative media consultant, creating online games for clients including the BBC, the U.K. Home Office, and Endemol Television.[3] He lives in London with his wife and children.[3]

He has also created games and books for other publishers, including the award-winning card game Once Upon A Time, which he co-authored with Richard Lambert and Andrew Rilstone. In 2001, he founded the annual Diana Jones Award for "excellence in gaming". He currently runs the gaming consultancy Spaaace, which includes the publishing subsidiary Magnum Opus Press, and his personal blog, Cope.

In January 2013 Wallis launched a Kickstarter for a RPG called Alas Vegas.[4] A PDF download was released to backers in December 2016, and the physical book was published in November 2017.[5]

Games

James Wallis's published games include:

Games he has edited and/or published include:

  • Nobilis (second edition, 2002; winner of the Origins Award for "Best Graphic Presentation Book Format Product", 2002)

Writing and Periodicals

In 1994 he founded and published Interactive Fantasy (IF), an early journal of 'games design and criticism'. The editor was Andrew Rilstone. The second issue included the first printing of the essay 'I Have No Words And I Must Design' by Greg Costikyan.

He wrote for the British Sunday Times newspaper from 2000 to 2001.

He also co-wrote scripts for the television show 404 Not Found.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  2. ^ Sugarbaker, Allan (2002). "Interviews: James Wallis". OgreCave.com. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
  3. ^ a b Wallis, James (2007). "Ghostbusters". In Lowder, James (ed.). Hobby Games: The 100 Best. Green Ronin Publishing. pp. 134–137. ISBN 978-1-932442-96-0.
  4. ^ "ALAS VEGAS: an RPG of bad memories, bad luck & bad blood by James Wallis — Kickstarter".
  5. ^ "ALAS VEGAS: an RPG of bad memories, bad luck & bad blood by James Wallis » The update you thought you'd never see — Kickstarter".
  6. ^ Atlas Games Once Upon a Time homepage.
  7. ^ Haring, Scott D. (17 December 1999). "Second Sight: The Millennium's Best Card Game". Pyramid (Online). Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  8. ^ Haring, Scott D. (24 December 1999). "Second Sight: The Millennium's Best "Other" Game and The Millennium's Most Influential Person". Pyramid (Online). Steve Jackson Games. Retrieved 16 February 2008.

External links

  • Spaaace, the games consultancy
  • COPE, James Wallis's personal blog
  • "First Church Of James Wallis Sanctified", part of the webzine Critical Miss
  • Magnum Opus Press

March 04, 2023
james, wallis, games, designer, this, article, cites, sources, does, provide, page, references, help, improve, introducing, citations, that, more, precise, providing, page, numbers, existing, citations, january, 2022, learn, when, remove, this, template, messa. This article cites its sources but does not provide page references You can help to improve it by introducing citations that are more precise and providing page numbers for existing citations January 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message James Wallis is a British designer and publisher of tabletop and role playing games He is not to be confused with Myriador s Jamie Wallis who converted Steve Jackson s Sorcery into d20 modules Contents 1 Career 2 Games 3 Writing and Periodicals 4 References 5 External linksCareer EditJames Wallis began roleplaying in 1981 through Dungeons amp Dragons and Traveller which were both licensed in the UK by Games Workshop at the time 1 304 Wallis began publishing his own fanzines first WEREMAN and then Sound amp Fury and got to know game designer Erick Wujcik through the latter Wujcik introduced Wallis to Kevin Siembieda at Gen Con 22 in 1989 resulting in Wallis writing two books for Palladium Books Mutants in Avalon 1990 and Mutants in Orbit 1992 1 304 Wallis also began working on his own role playing game based on the Bugtown comics and in 1992 he brought the game to Phage Press where it stalled for two years due to creative differences 1 304 Once Upon a Time a game designed by James Wallis Andrew Rilstone and Richard Lambert was published by Atlas Games in 1993 where James met Jonathan Tweet who soon became head of RPGs at Wizards of the Coast Wallis brought his Bugtown game to Wizards but he found no success there either as cartoonist Matt Howarth was unable to come to an agreement with Wizards of the Coast regarding royalties 1 304 He co founded the RPG magazine Inter action with Andrew Rilstone the first issue of which was published in Summer 1994 1 304 In October 1994 Wallis founded Hogshead Publishing 1 305 a company which specialised in role playing and storytelling games 2 Wallis based the company in the UK and got a license from Phil Gallagher at Games Workshop to publish books for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1 305 Wallis and Rilstone changed the name of Inter action to Interactive Fantasy due to trademark concerns beginning with its second issue which was also Hogshead s first publication the magazine only lasted two more issues after that 1 305 Warhammer sold well but Hogshead had problems with their distributor and Wallis had to let go of all the company s staff 1 305 Matt Howarth eventually pulled Wallis license for Bugtown and the game was never published 1 305 By 1996 Wallis was also working in the computer industry and shortly after moved into magazine publishing working on Warhammer in his spare bedroom on evenings and weekends 1 306 By the end of 1997 cashflow had improved so Wallis moved the company to an office and hired Matthew Pook 1 306 Wallis was able to publish his game The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen in 1998 1 306 He helped the principals of ProFantasy Software resurrect the Dragonmeet convention in 2000 1 383 On 26 November 2002 Wallis announced that he was ending Hogshead Publishing and Mark Ricketts bought the company name in February 2003 1 307 Wallis started the company Magnum Opus Press in 2007 by getting a licensing for the RPG Dragon Warriors Magnum Opus published a new 1 1 edition of the game with supplements starting in 2008 before problems with the licensor ended it on 1 April 2011 1 307 Wallis put out other books through Magnum Opus including the debut novel Game Night 2007 by Jonny Nexus and a new edition of his own The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen 2008 1 307 Wallis is a narrative media consultant creating online games for clients including the BBC the U K Home Office and Endemol Television 3 He lives in London with his wife and children 3 He has also created games and books for other publishers including the award winning card game Once Upon A Time which he co authored with Richard Lambert and Andrew Rilstone In 2001 he founded the annual Diana Jones Award for excellence in gaming He currently runs the gaming consultancy Spaaace which includes the publishing subsidiary Magnum Opus Press and his personal blog Cope In January 2013 Wallis launched a Kickstarter for a RPG called Alas Vegas 4 A PDF download was released to backers in December 2016 and the physical book was published in November 2017 5 Games EditJames Wallis s published games include Once Upon A Time co authored with Richard Lambert and Andrew Rilstone first released in 1994 named as winner of Games magazine s Best Family Card Game section in the 1997 Games 100 list 6 and one of The Millennium s Best Card Games by Pyramid magazine 7 The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen first released in 1998 revised and expanded in 2008 named as one of The Millennium s Best Games by Pyramid magazine 8 nominated for the 2009 Origins Award for Best Children s Family or Party Game Games he has edited and or published include Nobilis second edition 2002 winner of the Origins Award for Best Graphic Presentation Book Format Product 2002 Writing and Periodicals EditIn 1994 he founded and published Interactive Fantasy IF an early journal of games design and criticism The editor was Andrew Rilstone The second issue included the first printing of the essay I Have No Words And I Must Design by Greg Costikyan He wrote for the British Sunday Times newspaper from 2000 to 2001 He also co wrote scripts for the television show 404 Not Found References Edit a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Shannon Appelcline 2011 Designers amp Dragons Mongoose Publishing ISBN 978 1 907702 58 7 Sugarbaker Allan 2002 Interviews James Wallis OgreCave com Retrieved 9 August 2009 a b Wallis James 2007 Ghostbusters In Lowder James ed Hobby Games The 100 Best Green Ronin Publishing pp 134 137 ISBN 978 1 932442 96 0 ALAS VEGAS an RPG of bad memories bad luck amp bad blood by James Wallis Kickstarter ALAS VEGAS an RPG of bad memories bad luck amp bad blood by James Wallis The update you thought you d never see Kickstarter Atlas Games Once Upon a Time homepage Haring Scott D 17 December 1999 Second Sight The Millennium s Best Card Game Pyramid Online Retrieved 17 February 2008 Haring Scott D 24 December 1999 Second Sight The Millennium s Best Other Game and The Millennium s Most Influential Person Pyramid Online Steve Jackson Games Retrieved 16 February 2008 External links EditSpaaace the games consultancy COPE James Wallis s personal blog First Church Of James Wallis Sanctified part of the webzine Critical Miss Magnum Opus Press Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title James Wallis games designer amp oldid 1096840839, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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